>> that's the u.s. army guard fife and drum corps performing "yankee doodle dandy." it's one thing to be able to toot this holiday. they're able to toot those horns in wonderful fashion. >> yeah, no kidding. >> as a little kid, i had one of those hats and used to wear it all the time. i couldn't play something like this. that was fantastic. >> i feel like i'm time traveling, traveling back. >> with that tiffany's store over his shoulder. >> wonderful. mix of old and new today as we celebrate the fourth of july and america's birthday. thank you so much for tuning into "fox & friends" this morning. i'm flanked by clayton and peter johnson jr. today. good morning. >> good morning, thanks for having me. >> and we'd like to thank people today, right? >> we have some beautiful

flowers on the set here at 1-800 flowers does a great job of setting up our set this morning and providing some color this morning. thank you so them. also this morning, we've got a veteran outside, a world war ii veteran who will pull a car with his teeth. >> can't wait to see that. >> do i need to say anything more than that? this guy is incredible. i just saw him. he's about 5'3" and he'll pull an entire car with his teeth. >> i claim that he's the strongest man in america. i met him this morning. he's incredible. >> he's great. >> fantastic. look forward to that. let's head to d.c., fireworks are scheduled to go off in the nation's capital as the region continues to deal with the aftermath of the extreme weather that swept through in the last few days. d.c. is one of several regions affected by storms. millions of people in seven states still without power and sweltering temperatures. molly henneberg live for us in washington with more. good morning to you. >> good morning, gretchen, clayton and peter. yes, gretchen, just over a million people are still without power after that incredible

storm hit this area last friday night and toppled trees and power lines and there was more bad weather last night. some maryland communities have cancelled fourth of july festivities including fireworks because of the storm damage. but the big washington, d.c. fireworks are a go for tonight on the national mall. there was a bit of a weather snag, though, during the dress rehearsal for the capital fourth show on the west lawn of the capitol. the public is invited to watch this show but as another storm rolled through the area last night, police had to evacuate everyone because of lightning. the rehearsal was later able to continue and the show will go on tonight, weather permitting. president obama will wake up this morning at camp david. the presidential retreat in maryland and then head back to washington. he'll speak at the white house later today at a naturalization ceremony for active duty members of the military. then he'll host military heroes and their families on the south lawn of the white house for a fourth of july barbecue. a concert by country star brad paisley and a view of the d.c. fireworks.

his republican opponent governor mitt romney is in new hampshire with his family. all 30 of them for their annual family vacation. he's even gotten some time on a jet ski, you see him there with his wife ann. romney will take part in a local fourth of july parade today but mainly keeping a low profile this week, a brief respite before the summer push to the g.o.p. convention in august. romney has campaign aides with him on this vacation likely discussing campaign strategy as well as the search for a vice presidential running mate. after the holiday, president obama heads to ohio and pennsylvania for a two-day bus tour and governor romney will remain in new hampshire until sunday when he goes to new york for some fundraising events. back to you guys in new york. >> all right, molly, thanks so much for that comprehensive update and now to the rest of the headlines on the eve of the fourth of july, a fireworks explosion causing the back deck of a new hampshire home to go up in flames overnight. > >> so i just came down and i just like that feeling in my

stomach that i knew something couldn't be right. i was hoping someone didn't get hurt but a lot of people did. >> the explosion leaving at least nine people hurt including an infant and other children. two children taken to the hospital and the explosion filling the home with smoke. neighbors say the family sets off fireworks every fourth of july. talk about doing double duty. a new report claims chief justice john roberts also wrote most of the dissenting opinion for the obamacare ruling. according to the report, roberts wrote about 3/4 of what became the dissent before switching sides and writing the opinion to save president obama's controversial insurance mandate. the four conservative justices allegedly wrote the last part of the dissent together. head of the world's biggest atoms smasher confirming overnight there is evidence that the so-called god particle does in fact exist. the head of the european center for nuclear research announced the discovery. it's believed the particle gives all matter in the universe shape and size.

>> we could find as a result of this, the announcement coming today, we could find that we could create black holes all over the place. so nerds like me excited this morning. this could be one of the biggest -- >> i was just going to say -- excuse me. can i get a primer on all of this? >> this could be one of the biggest stories in the history of physics today if we get this announcement later today. >> physics, my toughest class. >> mine, too. >> too bad i couldn't have tutor clayton morris. >> no. >> it is independence day today, so we should talk about this. you think about maybe we're independent. this is what our nation was founded on, this idea of self-reliance and it's worth reflecting this morning, the daily caller did, looking at the way in which we're dependent on government these days. perhaps more than ever before we are now dependent on government. >> you know, this really caught my attention, this article, because of the use of the words "independence day" and dependence so here's some of the facts. 1 in 5 americans depend now on

some sort of federal assistance. to me, that's astronomical. 1 in 5 and we've talked a lot about the importance of the election in november depending on which side of the fence you're on. this will be the tipping point in our society because we're almost to that tipping point of over 50% of people who are receiving some sort of federal assistance and whether or not you want to move more in that direction or move more to independence again. >> and at the same time, while 70% of the federal government's budget is on individual assistance programs, about half the people in america are not paying taxes. so do the math. >> federally. >> yeah, do the math on that. how does that work out? >> if you dive into some of the other numbers. the housing, health, welfare and retirement, they get most of that. in the next 25 years, this is a big one, of course, it is baby boomers with 77 million baby boomers will retire and 49.5% of the population does not pay any federal income taxes as you pointed out, peter. the average person who relies on government could receive benefits valued at about $32,000

over the course of their life. $32,000 handed out from the government. >> in the meantime, one north carolina social services department apparently has received a certain kind of an award. now, this is not going to sound like this is something you might say -- give applause to but apparently, they received an award, the gold award for increasing their food stamp participation by 10%. apparently, they were good at recruiting people at -- and letting them know that, in fact, you do qualify for food stamps. apparently, some people don't realize that they do. and is it the job, then, of the federal government to reach out to these people and make sure they know that they can receive these government benefits? >> and i think it even goes further than this because this particular area of the country in north carolina has, well, even the mountains of the carolinas and through that area has something they locally call mountain pride which is we're going to do it ourselves. even if we're struggling, we'll continue to do it ourselves. we'll buy the seed to our

gardens ourselves and the gold star was given out to the government services because they were able to overcome mountain pride. that is say that it's ok to take a handout from the government. >> well, this is the supplem t supplemental nutrition assistance program known as the snap program. it provides food stamps for people who are hungry. so i'd like to know what people really think about it. i see both sides of the dial. but if someone is hungry, shouldn't they be getting the assistance that they need? >> jeff sessions says -- he's sort of fired up about this. he says not really the role of government to come out and say there's a particular culture in your town and we're going to come in and say it's ok to get rid of that. we're going to completely blow that out, this mountain pride. that's not the role of government necessarily. >> and to take it one step further, there is sort of the -- the defense of this that it stimulates the economy. it stimulates the economy to have more people on the government dole because then they use the government money to go back and spend it in the economy. you might scratch your head at that and wonder whether or not

-->> it's not about mountain pride. i think it's american pride. i think it's unique to america. >> let's talk about american pride and something that comes along with the fourth of july which is fireworks celebrations, right? now, one oregon town that's been doing this for 19 years. now, apparently, they've canceled their fireworks celebration there because there's a certain type of bird that was coming out of its nest at the sound of the fireworks. >> they went so far as to film these birds over the past few years this their nests and every time the booms would go off, they'd get frightened and the birds would fly away from these nests and they'd find the eggs were eaten because the predators would come and the birds wouldn't return to take care of the kids. now they're canceling them all together and peter, you're the law guy. >> this is the bird guy. >> you are. go ahead. >> you're a law man and in 1918, they created this migratory bird act. that's the reason they're having to cancel it is because of this law. >> maybe someone was friends with the birds.

that's the brandt in pirate's cove. i know the type of bird. i don't know that specific bird. >> it's kind of cute. who's the thing? who doesn't get startled at fireworks? i mean, where will this end? this bird, what about the little badger sitting in the yard. what about the skunk? what about the racoon? i mean, there is somewhat of a slippery slope here that you could start to argue that most anybody can be startled. >> bring the fireworks back. bring it back! >> friends at foxnews.com. should they cancel it? a lot of people canceled now and they're not coming out. >> more states coming out, speaking of that, swinging against obamacare this morning. if they opt out, if the states opt out, will more people end up relying on the government-run health care program? a fair and balanced debate coming up next. >> then this lawmaker accidentally legalized fracking because she pressed the wrong button? oops! can she take it back? we'll let you know. ♪

i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

>> more republican governors are revolting against the president's health care law. specifically the provision that expands medicaid allowing millions of americans to rely on

the government for help. does that undermine the entire purpose of the law? let's ask dr. bill lincolnwurter, former c.e.o. of blue cross/blue shield and president of highmark health insurance and stan hutfield author of "political malpractice." good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. happy fourth. >> happy fourth to you. happy independence day. doctor, what do you say about the republican governors stepping out and saying we're not going to fund this expansion? we're not going to be setting up these health care exchanges in our states? does that devalue the entire obamacare? what should be happening? >> well, the part that you're talking about has to do with medicaid and whether they will expand their medicaid programs and yes, several governors have said that they do not believe that there are the funds available to do this. they're concerned about the long term cost in their state and where the taxes, the revenues will come to pay for this

expansion so they're -- they're concerned even though the federal government will pick up the costs of that expansion during the first few years, they're concerned about the long term costs. and so we'll have to see what they do here especially given that it's certainly possible that things could change with the upcoming elections but that remains to be seen. >> what do you say about this? it appears in the law, there was an opt out for the states to say we will not be part of this medicaid expansion and the supreme court agreed that they could step out and not be penalized with the taking away of current medicaid money? what's going to happen to obamacare if 26 republican governors say we're not in? >> well, that's one of the real ironies of the supreme court decision, you know, the support of many of the provider groups including hospitals was based on the fact that all of a sudden, we'd have an insurance program for many of the people that we're taking care of for free

now so -- and much of that was coming from medicaid expansion so if, in fact, the governors follow through with their -- with their allegations, this would severely damage one of the main tenets for which many of the provider groups were supportive. >> doctor, what's going to be the outcome if these governors step away from the medicaid expansion? how will this affect the system nationally and how will it affect the provision of health care to people who may need it and are not getting it? >> well, peter, i think what you're referring to is in the original law, they were mandated to expand that coverage under medicaid and if they did not, they would lose all of their medicaid funds, not just the funds available for that expansion. so i think the states are -- what i hear, in following this issue among the states and really all states is they want more flexibility to manage their

medicaid programs and not so much direct control from the federal government and with that flexibility, they believe that they can expand coverage but do it at a lower cost. and so we'll have to just see how this plays out. >> mr. hupfield, do you believe the states have a moral obligation to put these folks on obamacare even though they have political objections to obamacare based upon what we're seeing now? >> well, i think the states are going to be under a great deal of pressure from neighboring states that do participate. you know, if, in fact, a state chooses not to participate and expand its medicaid to 133% of poverty, we sort of go back to square one and we're not any necessarily worse off than we were before but many of the provider groups would be significantly disappointed. >> we'll leave it there. good morning, happy fourth. nice to see you both. thanks for joining the debate. >> happy fourth to you. thank you. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. the vice president says republicans are waging an all

out war on teachers. >> they criticize you. and they blame you. they make you the fall guy. >> but mitt romney says not so fast, joe! his response straight ahead. then on this fourth of july, our beloved old glory will wave proud. thanks to our next guest, it's his business to repair our flags for free? it's coming up. building pass, corporate card, verizon 4g lte phone.

the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events

including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, whilen enbrel, you experice persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

>> welcome back to "fox & friends" on this fourth of july. some quick headlines now for you. former u.s. commerce secretary john bryson won't be charged in

connection with a series of bizarre hit-and-runs that led to his resignation last month. they rule the crashes were caused by a seizure and a world war ii veteran finally getting a proper burial months after his remains were discovered in a cardboard box at florida national cemetery, the army private lawrence davis jr. had no living relatives to make funeral arrangements when he died back in 2004. a local funeral director donated the new casket and davis was buried with full military honors. gretchen? >> well, on a 100-year-old sewing machine, a detroit tailor is fulfilling the patriotic duty his grandfather began in 1919. repairing and cleaning battered american flags. and he does it all free of charge. that very patriotic tailor joins me now this fourth of july. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, how are you today? >> i'm fantastic. what a wonderful story. this is my favorite story of the

day on "fox & friends." tell me about the history of the tailoring company. i know your grandfather emigrated to this country and started doing this job gratas for people. why? >> it was proud to be allowed, you know, everyone wanted to be in america and when he came over, the turn of the century and he just wanted to give back. >> so he opened the store in 1919, it was a tailor shop and it quickly turned into also doing this free service of repairing the tattered flag. what kind of people came to him to do that? >> war veterans, you know, the average people that needed a flag repaired, you know, i have to specify i do not restore flags. i just repair them if they're torn and tattered and add life to them, that's what i do. >> your father also served, he was a marine and he fought in the korean war? >> correct. >> and so the tradition

continued as far as honoring this country and giving of their time and service. why do you continue this tradition? >> it's like the trifecta for me. i get to honor my dad, my grandfather and my country all in one easy swoop. pretty cool thing. >> so tell me about how many flags a year you repair? >> well, ever since the internet, i'm doing a lot more because i get them sent to me from, you know, other than michigan people, about 75 to 100 depending on the climate of the country and how patriotic people feel. >> and you're still working on the sewing machine from the early 1900's? >> yeah, the sewing machine i you sew on is from 1909. it's a workhorse. >> and still works just fine? >> oh, yeah. you know, there's thousands of them out there, parts everywhere. yeah, it works great. i prefer it to the new ones. >> you prefer it to the new ones. >> it will sew anything. >> i understand that one

particular president heard about what you were doing and decided to honor you. who was it and what did you receive? >> i have got a letter from ronald reagan congratulating me and my family and god and country. those are pretty cool. i don't know what year it was, 1983, 198 had. >> found out about what you were doing and thought it was so great, he wrote you a handwritten note. >> yep. it was a beautiful thing. >> well, it's a beautiful thing what you are doing and i know that you say you don't have a web site and you're not really on the internet but people are finding you. you are in detroit. it's clark anter, the owner and tailor of lott, anter tailoring and cleaning and fixing these flags for free. happy fourth of july, sir. have a fantastic independence day, you and your family. >> thank you. thanks, guys. see you later! >> what a great story, right? what being an american is all about. next on the rundown, this lawnmower -- lawmaker, not a

lawnmower . a lawmaker, sorry, man, absolutely legalized fracking because she pressed the wrong button. we'll tell you that story. we promise you won't see this anywhere else today. a real american hero. this guy is 91 years old and a world war ii vet showing how tough he really is pulling that car with his teeth. then the secret to the perfect fourth of july burger. one ingredient that you definitely don't want to leave out. [ male announcer ] this is the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants.

♪ guts. glory. ram. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

let'"that looks hard"oject from to "that didn't take long". let's break out behr ultra... ...the number one selling paint and primer in one, now with stain blocker. each coat works three times harder, priming, covering, and blocking stains. let's go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now at the home depot, buy four gallons of paint and get the fourth one free.

did you know kids who play outdoors have healthier lungs? totally. did you know that boys that play with dolls make better husbands? my son has lots of dolls. but did you know terry cloth diapers breathe better? i did. oh, yeah, yeah. did you guys know statistically friendly kids have more friends? yeah. that's obvious. did you know most people think they're using the right car seat for their kid, but they're not? announcer: parents who really know it all know for sure that their child is in the right seat. visit safercar.gov/therightseat to make sure your child is protected.

>> all right. wonderful performance by the u.s. army, old guard fife and

drum corps. they'll be with us throughout the morning even though it's a little rainy out there. you have an interesting app. you'll tell us up to the second weather for your fourth of july. >> download it called dark sky. i was just showing gretchen. it will show you when it's going to rain down to the minute. it will rain in about 44 minutes and in 44 minutes, it will rain. in the next few minutes it will stop raining outside. >> i thought the hour by hour was cool. >> marina molina in our weather center might be put out of business because of it. >> i hope not. it will enhance what she's doing. after months of heated debate within the obama administration, secretary of state hillary clinton apologizing to pakistan for a nato air strike last year. pakistan now reopening supply routes to afghanistan that were closed after the air strike. the closures cost the u.s. about $100 million extra a month. republicans including mitt romney, though, claim president obama says sorry.

>> call it a major fracking flub. that's a tongue twister, the north carolina state representative becky carney against fracking voted to override a fracking veto. carney claims she accidentally hit the green yes button instead of the no button and became the deciding vote. supporters of fracking say it could increase natural gas production and critics claim it hurts the environment. it's about the nuclear button she was concerned about. >> new york city mayor michael bloomberg speaking very frankly at the weigh-in for today's annual nathan's hot dog eating contest. apparently his speechwriters had just too many puns. >> if one of their dogged pursueers will finally catch up, cut the mustard and be pronounced wiener. no question, it's going to be a dogfight. just think of how many we got into one sentence.

that was really impressive. who wrote this [beep]? >> that got a bigger laugh than the actual puns. the eating began at 11:30 a.m. eastern time today. >> some junior speechwriter getting some recognition. and a putdown. the vice president says republicans are waging an all out war on teachers? here he is at the national education association's convention in d.c. >> there's a pretty uniform view held by mr. romney and the republicans in the united states congress today, they criticize you and they blame you. they make you the fall guy. >> a spokesperson for mitt romney hit back hard saying vice president biden doubles down on the same policies that have failed to fix our economy and help the middle class. instead of putting students first, vice president biden and this administration have stood with union bosses.

speaking of maria molina, time to toss to her because she'll have a look at the weather. >> i heard you, clayton. it won't put me out of business. don't say that. we're looking at drizzle right now across parts of the northeast including us in new york city and also across boston and down into philadelphia so most dealing with a batch of light showers pushing through the region but in the next two hours, we'll start to see most of that moving out to sea and actually will see some sunshine returning and some of those hot temperatures. should get up to 92 degrees this afternoon in new york city. and also widespread 90's and even triple digits further off towards the west like in cleave land, chicago. minneapolis, 100 degrees for you guys. 103 should be the guy in kansas city and memphis, tennessee expecting a high temperature this afternoon at 100. factor in the humidity and, of course, it will feel even hotter. now, we're going to possibly see another round of showers and storms later on this afternoon and into this evening across the northeast, new england by 9:00 p.m., you could still be seeing some of that activity unfortunately during fireworks time and also looking at those showers and storms possible

across the southeast from all of that heat and humidity in place. clayton? >> thanks so much, maria and according to my app, it's going to stop raining in eight minutes. hold you to it. >> ok. >> we're out here with the meat expert and co-host of the great show "meat men" on food network and he's here to cook us up some tough and show you how to do some proper grilling and barbecuing some burgers on this fourth of july. key because so many people screw up when they're making their burgers on the fourth of july. they don't make them properly and make them too big. they put them in too cold and they screw up their fourth of july and barbecues. how do we do it properly? >> control what you're putting into your ground beef. so if you can control what you're grinding. in this case, we have boneless short ribs so what you want to do is cut these into strips. >> so you bought some boneless short ribs that you'll cut up separately and turn into your own ground beef. >> correct. we'll make our own ground beef so we can control what's in our

burger especially on the fourth of july being the most american comfort food we can possibly eat on the fourth of july. >> it's about independence. do it yourself. don't rely on someone else to make your burgers. here you have a grinder. >> it's inexpensive accessory that goes on to any kitchen aid or food processor. whole trick is to make strips of meat like this and run them right through and that -- it's that simple. you can make a hamburger like that in one grind. >> and i talk about the temperature. you need to do this at a certain temperature so you don't screw it up. that's what temperature? >> correct. you should chill these down to about 35 degrees. this way they'll run through the knife very quickly and won't overwork and get pasty. >> you can see the definition between the meat and fat. it's still there. the integrity of the muscle is still in the burgers. >> not making it too thick is also a key, right? you don't want the center of the burger to be too large so it's not cooking as cool as the rest. >> that depends on how you like your burger.

if you like your burger medium rare or rare and you're controlling what's going into it so you're making a safe product, i like a higher burger so the inside is medium rare or rare. >> make sure it's made in the u.s.a., right? make sure you're getting your meat properly from the u.s.a. >> the key ingredient here is to buy domestic beef so any domestic beef you're buying, you're most likely helping a small farmer in the united states. >> one thing i have to say, pat has an incredible ipad app and shows you all the cuts of meat, how to cook properly and walks you through step by step, right? you can download it today and help you when you're not around, they can't hire you out to barbecue. >> the apple will explain how you should grind and all the key points and tips of how to make your own burger. >> is there one ingredient you want to leave out? or any ingredients that you don't want to leave out? >> the key ingredient in most hamburgers, beef trimmings many you don't want to use any of

that. you want to use all muscle. it depends on you. what do you like to grill? what do you like to eat? that's what a flavorful burger is going to taste. >> down on the grill, you guys have been cooking it up all morning. you want to make sure you have it really hot or medium? >> put your grill on first before you start making your burger meat so it's really hot so you have a surface temperature of about 500 degrees. i have my dad sauteing some onions and brown sugar and my cousin mark is actually working the grill making sure that they're about medium and using american cheese, of course. >> american cheese, wonderful stuff. check out pat lafrada on "meat men" on the food network. enough talk, gretchen and peter. now i'll try one of these delicious burgers this morning. look at this thing. look at this. fantastic, guys! >> breakfast of champions. >> that's one in a series of a lot of burgers that you'll down today. >> i love that. >> starting off early!

>> grind your own meat. that's the best. >> we'll be back with them later on. i think they'll do something else for us. talk about independence, these pandas taking fun into their own hands. this isn't just a game. this is so cute! too bad brian is not here today, peter. he doesn't like cute animals. >> i watched them and heard them talk about this. they are cute. do they really have hands? brian would know. >> that's adorable! i can watch that all day. >> that is so cute. we promised you're not going to see this anywhere else. look at this. a real american hero. 91-year-old world war ii vet showing how tough he is. he's pulling a car with his teeth here on "fox & friends." look at that! oh, my god! not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways

to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. used dishclot. they can have a history that they drag around with them. try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one set of bounty extra so leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth.

the cleaner way to clean. bounty extra soft. st $14.99. start with soup, salad ancheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently.

>> quick headlines this morning. check this out.

an s.u.v. goes airborne on a road in wisconsin. a passer-by happened to be filming from an overpass when the truck hit pavement and it buckled from the heat. the driver and passenger are ok. thank goodness. and let it slide. you're looking at a group of baby pandas having a blast on some playground equipment at a research base in china, gretchen. you can see the little guys going up and down. that slide. they are so cute. it is a slide. at first, there we go. wow! excellent! clayton. >> ok. >> getting blown up. >> he met the world's strongest man in our green room this morning. i'm standing with him. he might be the not world's strongest man. he's mike greenstein and called the son of the mighty atom, a world war ii veteran and his father was a legend in the business of pulling things, breaking things with his teeth. nice to see you this morning, mike. welcome to the show. >> my pleasure.

>> are you stunned sort of this new found fame that you've had at this stage in your life? >> i enjoy doing it and i know i have the strength. it's a lot of mind over matter. >> to say the least. your father, of course, a legend. used to do all sorts of shows and you grew up around that and decided that you wanted to be a part of that. >> yes, i enjoyed watching him all the time. but once the war broke out, my dad helped me get an act together where i can raise money for the war bonds and also on my off time, entertain the troops wherever i happened to be. >> and you do all sorts of shows that help other people and raise awareness for different sorts of diseases and fighting as well. you built this. i want to see if we can get a close-up of this. this is the leather chomp bit that you built in 1939 and you still use this. this is the thing you put in your mouth? >> yes. i made this with the contour of my teeth so there's even only

pulled on either side. >> keep your teeth strong, you followed something your father taught you which is to brush your teeth with kosher salt every night? >> kosher salt, he did. and i still do it. >> people say, mike, you may have one of the strongest next and jaws in the world, is that right? >> i don't know. for a -- it is the strongest in the world. but i have a lot of strength in my jaws. >> you're a humble man. so this is a chain connected to a rope, connected to a car. you're going to put the chomp bit in your mouth and mike is going to pull this car down the 48th street here in the middle of manhattan. are you ready? >> i'm ready any time. >> all right. it's fourth of july. this is truly american right here. watch this. go ahead. mike. and i should mention it is wet here on 48th, by the way. all right. here goes mike, chomp bit in his mouth! 91 years old. 91 years old. world war ii veteran you're looking at. and here's the car down the

street that it's -- it's beginning to move and by the way, no one is stepping on the gas of this car. he's even able to pull cars up a hill. he was able to pull a post office truck up a hill as a trick and the postman couldn't believe it. he's got his foot off the brake. he told him to get his foot off the brake. this is remarkable. i have trouble lifting a stack of towels when my wife asks me to take laundry upstairs. we should be clear, the person inside the car shouldn't be doing anything so we don't get in an accident. look at this. mike greenstein pulling a car down the street in the middle of manhattan. congratulations, mike! wow. unbelievable. wow. congratulations, thank you so much. you have to take the rest of the day off now? >> not really. i'll pull a few more cars. >> we need some towing down here

in the middle of manhattan. maybe we can get mike on top of it and save the port authority some money. >> wow. >> that's incredible. >> he isn't a tall guy either. >> how tall are you? >> i'm 5'4 1/2". >> unbelievable, mike. happy fourth of july. >> he's such a strong guy. incredible. >> see muscles in his neck? >> what an incredible story. >> when he was pulling that. >> talk about inspiration. that's one of the best things that i've ever seen. >> got to love, take the foot off the brake so i can pull this thing. you have plans for the fourth of july? the occupiers do. they're about to disrupt celebrations in our nation's birthplace . >> get in line. who are we helping here? we're helping our wounded warriors giving back to our troops overseas. how you can help when we come back. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack.

my brother doesn't look like heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear. did you know honey nut cheerios is america's favorite cereal? oh, you're good! hey, did you know that honey nut cheerios is... oh you too! ooh, hey america's favorite cereais... honey nut cheerios ok then off to iceland!

>> all right. welcome back, everyone. i'm joined -- all right! the wounded warrior project. you've heard about us talking about that on this show before. i have carlos gonzalez, an iraq vet with me today. i have james o'leary, the area outreach coordinator for the wounded warrior project. what are they doing? they're putting together gift packs for our soldiers overseas. good morning, guys. tell me what we're doing and what we're putting together. i'm in line and i'm supposed to be stuffing. >> a little toiletry kit here. we have underwear, socks,

shorts, shirt, beanies, program director and thank you cards. and this goes to all the wounded in the hospitals when they get there so they have something to put on, some clothes when you get to the hospitals, usually you have nothing but your gown on and dog tag. comfort items for them in the hospital beds. >> fantastic. so carlos, what are you putting in first? >> putting in the hygiene kit and then we're putting in some socks. two pairs of socks, we're giving them two pairs of underwear. and then i'm passing it over -- >> passing it to me? >> i'm passing to you. >> and i'm supposed to put in the -- is this the shirt? >> shirt in here. >> the shorts. >> shorts from the wounded warrior. >> correct. >> the t-shirt from the wounded warrior project. >> a beanie cap. >> then we get two pamphlets, one signed by our donors. and there's a thank you card, too, isn't there? >> correct. thank you card signed by the donors. >> i hope i'm doing this right. these came out of indiana. carl davis, a navy veteran.

this one is frank ferarra from caramel, indiana, on this veterans day and on every day, i'm deeply grateful for your service. how wonderful. what does this mean for the two of you guys to be involved in this project? >> to me, it's gratification and coming back from iraq in 2010 and being retired recently, it allows me to give back to -- give back to wounded warriors the same way that the wounded warriors project came back to me. so at the end of the day, it's gratification and being able to help you out that i'm -- since i'm no longer in the service and now that i'm out, i'm able to help out. >> what about you? >> i was wounded in 2004 and i remember what it was like to be in a hospital bed with nothing but your dog tags and your gown so if i could bring a little bit of relief to some of these guys and gals that are in the bed, it's, you know, it's amazing that i can help. >> talk about the support that you have from the people behind you as well. >> yeah! >> wounded warriors! >> happy fourth of july to everyone here.

and we're going to send it back inside to you guys. > >> wounded warriors? i guess we're not. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. and a single pool of sharable data that powers up to 10 devices. the first pl of it's kind. share everything. only from verizon. add a smartphone for just $40 monthly access. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job. so why are you doing hers? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn

is actually something more serious... like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do her job, and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

>> good morning, everyone. today is wednesday, july 4, 2012. happy fourth of july, everyone. i'm gretchen carlson. happy birthday, america. the show must go on. fireworks expected to go off in the nation's capital as the region continues to deal with the aftermath of extreme weather that swept through that part of the country. millions still without power ask a new round of storms moving through now. >> and the president knew republicans wanted to repeal his health care law. that's no surprise. now at least one democrat is on board with repeal as well. peter? >> we're live on the ground in afghanistan celebrating the fourth of july with our troops. "fox & friends" starts right now.

>> ♪ country mile ♪ to find her a good old slow talking country boy ♪ ♪ i said a country boy ♪ i'm as old fashioned >> good morning, everyone. happy fourth of july. look at that beautiful creature. that, of course, is a budweiser clydesdale horse now supporting our troops. budweiser partnering with folds of honor. those are scholarships that go to children who have lost a parent at war. wonderful program we're going to be telling you more about it later on in our show as we celebrate independence day here in america. >> we're going to hear from one of those patriots a little later in the show and the budweiser clydesdales learning they have six hitches. six teams of budweiser

clydesdales out in st. louis, missouri. >> did they allow one of you guys to get on top of that -- >> what kind of saddle? >> no, bareback. come on. >> i will not take off my shirt, no. >> i didn't say that. >> same thing. >> maybe that, too. it's a holiday. >> it's an image. >> thank you. >> in the meantime, it is fourth of july. we don't want to forget the brave men and women who fight for america's freedom. we're joined now by dominique with our troops in kandahar, afghanistan. good morning or good afternoon. auto >> good afternoon from here and happy birthday to everybody at home. celebration started very early this morning, soldiers that are with me now explain how they're celebrating this great day. with us is a good friend of fox and a long time over the years, i think, and absolutely captain ricky santana who is with the

expeditionary force. >> it started with a 5 mile run and it got hot and steamy and then we're going to have a good time. we'll have food and ceremony. >> ricky gearing up for a big water balloon fight. >> absolutely. i'm trying to take the championship this year. i don't know. i have to find the right partner. i'll look around there for some potenti potential champions over there. >> absolutely, this week, he went in at the gym and it's going to be payback, brother. >> awesome stuff. on top of that, we'll have some promotions that we'll be taking here behind the cookout a little bit later on and on top of that, we're seeing other awards being given to soldiers and other promotions throughout the part of the day. back to you.

>> dominick, thank you so much. >> president obama and mitt romney will both mark the fourth of july holiday in their own way. romney will be in new hampshire marching in the town's independence day parade. romney taking a break from the campaign trail this week to spend time with his family. president obama will return to the white house after spending the weekend at camp david. he's hosting a naturalization ceremony for active duty troops. later in the day, the president and first lady are holding a fourth of july party for military families. as the nation celebrates its independence, the occupy protesters will be gathering in the birthplace of our country. the protesters already starting to fill independence mall in philadelphia. they're trying to convince others about their views on issues like the economy and war. police calling in extra officers for crowd control. nearly 1.3 million people across seven states and washington, d.c. still without power. it's now the fifth day they're without electricity after those deadly storms. crews working around the clock

to help restore the power. but it's also the unbearable heat that is a problem and to add to the misery, more bad weather is expected to hit parts of the east coast later today. she says she saw a legion of angels guarding the wreckage on september 11th. former employee lily leonardi speaking out in a powerful new book about her experience looking at the scene in shanksville, pennsylvania. of course, that's where united flight 93 crashed into a field killing all 44 people on board including four hijackers. she says she got there just three hours after the crash and that's when she claims she saw shimmering lights and what she describes as angels appearing from the midst. and those are the headlines this morning. >> remarkable. >> a little bit earlier on the show, we had an interesting debate about this idea of medicaid expansion under the now supreme court upheld obamacare law and many republican state leaders considering opting out which was also that came out of this supreme court ruling that

states would have the option basically of opting out of this medicaid expansion and here are just a list of the individual governors who have come forward and say they will do this. rick scott of florida, terry branstad of iowa. but the question is what does this do, then, to those who are on medicare and the expansion of it and the cost of others that are not on this? >> i'm not sure what it does but it's my understanding that the federal dollars would have come in for the first couple of years to take care of this medicaid expansion program. after a few years, the states would be responsible for coming up with that extra dough and as you know, many states trying to tighten their belts and reach budgets as they're required to do every single year as opposed to the federal government. and they simply could not afford it. so they're going to opt out now so later on, they're not owing more. >> half a dozen other states including the state of texas is saying we may not be expanding this. we may not be setting up health care exchanges in our state. and the effect would be

effectively to put all of these dollars on the federal government, make obamacare a lot more expensive than it was originally predicted to be and there's also the issue of what happens to these people, say, in florida, for example, there's another 900,000 people who may be eligible for medicaid under obamacare rules. how are they going to be covered going forward? the democrats and the white house are counting on a state hospital organizations to lobby these republicans governors to say no, you really need to do it. we'll see who blinks first on this. >> the issue is all politics are local, right? you have local politicians in these areas saying it's going to crush our local budgets. if you're going to be running and up for re-election this time around, it's not very favorable especially if your budget is under crunch you have to actually talk about the obamacare law and what it's going to do to your local community. one democrat coming out now saying he's going to vote against the health care law and he's going to vote to repeal it. he already had -- larry kissel

is a republican -- >> democrat. >> sorry, democrat in north carolina and what's amazing about this is it's right in his backyard, literally right in his backyard is where the democratic national convention is going to be held. he says i am not going to vote -- i'm going to vote to repeal this thing. >> he probably won't be appearing at the democratic national convention along with other democrats who have said that they won't be appearing there as well. here's the quote from larry. i've heard from hundreds and hundreds of people from my district about their opposition to the health care law. i voted against it originally. and i will vote to repeal it. very interesting. so that topic is not going away before the election coming up in november. in the meantime, the debate continues about whether or not the individual mandate, if you choose not to buy that eventually when obamacare goes into full effect in 2014, will you pay a penalty or will you pay a tax? it's down to the semantics now of those two words. debbie wasserman schultz who is the head of the d.n.c., the democratic national committee,

gave this explanation yesterday about whether or not it is a tax or a penalty and tried to explain why if it's not a tax, why the i.r.s. is in charge of collecting it. >> taxation is collected on broad swaths and large categories of individuals. this is a penalty that will be assessed on the tax returns if you choose to roll the dice and make us all pay for you being irresponsible and increase all of our health care costs. >> does that make sense? >> so even though it's not technically a tax is what she's saying, the i.r.s. would still have legal authority to collect that nontax? doesn't seem like that's under the i.r.s.'s authority. >> i.r.s. has a new responsibility in america not to collect taxes. >> that would be bad -- >> that's -- >> actually, there may be some truth in that because there is some debate about whether or not they'll be able to figure out the people that are supposed to be paying this tax penalty.

>> that's an issue. >> and whether or not they'll be able to actually collect the money which will mean that obamacare becomes more expensive for the people who are actually paying taxes. >> i think we all know a tax is a tax is a tax and the supreme court has said it's part of the taxing authority under obamacare. it's been decided. >> one texas town on this fourth of july, you know, a lot of people going out to parades today and a lot of people might visit the cemeteries of those who have fallen in wars to pay homage to those who have given their lives for our freedom. this town down there in mineral wells, texas, has decided that they are going to ban putting flags on veterans' graves on off times so that is if you decide to show up during the week and it's not a holiday and you want to put a flag in a vase on the plot of a veteran or somebody else, you could be fined and basically violating the law because you're deciding to put a flag on a grave. >> this is so ridiculous. mineral wells, i used to work

there and been to that town many times and guess what? the people there don't like this new rule and don't like it at all. there's been so many protests and so many phone calls to the city council members there, there's going to be a public hearing and public meeting next week on july 10th to determine whether or not this is going to stand. so folks, if you live out in texas and you're near this area, here are the only days that you can put flags on graves. before and after memorial day and veterans day. july 4th and labor day. other popular flag holidays but they're not going to be -- other days are not going to be approved during that time. is that right? or is that wrong? let us know what you think about that. >> what's the issue, though? they're saying it's because of -- i mean, i guess there's got to be lawyers involved, peter, i hate to put you on the spot with this. it seems like they're saying people get hurt with these -- with the flags being out there. groundskeepers. >> allegedly. they say there's too many teddy bears and statues. ok, you want to ban the teddy bear, ban the teddy bear. you want to ban the statues? ban the statues.

don't ban the flag and don't tell us what day we can put a flag on our loved ones who served for our country or even if they didn't serve in our country, they loved our country. it's ridiculous. i agree with you. >> all right. let us know what you think about that. in the meantime, the supreme court letting obamacare stand as we all know but widespread confusion remains about how it will affect your coverage. we're going to try to sort it out for you coming up next. >> then this amazing discovery on this fourth of july. a map hinting back at america's earliest history. >> but first, the u.s. army guard's fife and drum corps performing live on our plaza bringing back the spirit of 1976. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis sympto. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benets with theisks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen,

naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease risk factors suh as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach a intestine problems, such as bleeding and cers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the eldey are at incrsed risk for stoch bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help rightway if you have swelng of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy.

could've had a v8. >> in a controversial opinion, the supreme court let obamacare stand but widespread confusion still remains about what it means for most americans' own insurance coverage. here to help us sort it all out and i need the help, too, is ben hanbeck, president of the health insurance and consulting firm and joins us live from

nashville, tennessee this morning. good morning. >> good morning, happy fourth of july. >> happy fourth of july to you. what are we going to be seeing in terms of health care changes, health care costs going forward? the type of health care we will be receiving as americans as a result of obamacare? >> yeah, that's a great question. we are probably right now in the most cloudy, chaotic and potentially costly point in time in america with health care. and so there's a few things, you know, that the american worker needs to look out for and keep in mind as we move forward for the next few months through election. first and foremost, they need to be a good consumer and watch the changes that are made with their employers' plan. >> there are going to be fewer providers and fewer hospitals and perhaps even higher deductibles for patients, correct? >> higher deductibles for patients and potentially cost being put over to the employees.

so maybe a less risk plan design and at the same time, they could be bearing the burden of higher costs on that coverage from their employer. >> so it's going to be, perhaps, more expensive. looking at maybe 11% to 15% increases over the next year or more? but at the same time -- >> yes. in the short term. >> how will that affect what we're getting? will we be getting the same type of coverage when we're paying at least $200 more with the overhaul? >> yes. it's going to be the same coverage, the same providers, but with maybe, like you said, a higher deductible. maybe higher co-pays. provisions in the plans that they haven't seen before. but the companies are making those changes to offset the increases with health care. >> ben, what can we do as americans to make sure we're getting the coverage that we're not getting fleeced by it? and that we're going to be covered? >> number one is, as i

mentioned, make sure you're a good consumer. make sure you know exactly what plans your employers have. when changes are made, make sure that you're aware of those changes and looking out into the next 12 to 18 months, i think all americans need to make sure that they're aware of what decisions their employer is making specifically with the health care change laws so, for instance, if i'm working for an organization that has over 50 employees, i need to be aware of is my employer planning on dropping their health care plan? and putting me and my family into the exchanges or are they planning on continuing to offer private health insurance? if it looks like my company is going to put me into those exchanges, then does my state offer a private or public exchange and what's that exchange going to look like? >> if i have to go into that exchange, i may not be able to mirror the coverage that i already have. in some ways sometimes they're kind of skeleton plans as we call them. >> yes. and i was in washington, d.c. in may for a briefing, and i was

able to ask the questions about the exchanges and the comments that i got back were, you know, well, ben, the more people that go into the exchanges, we're going to be able to lower costs. and spread that risk out across the board. and i don't believe that. my thoughts and what i've seen, you know, so far with the exchanges is that the way they're going to provide affordable costs as president obama says is if the exchanges, as you mentioned are going to be skeleton like in that if -- >> handbag. >> if a major metropolitan city, you have 98% of doctors -- >> will you come back and tell us? let's see what the numbers are. >> thank you. good morning, ben. >> good to see you. >> take care. >> one of the world's largest drug makers throwing parties like this, one for doctors to push them to push their drugs. on you. now, a celebrity doctor is caught up in this scandal, unfortunately. and to all of our heroes, this bud's for you. a vet who served three tours of

duty in iraq here on how we can all help the families of our men and women overseas who are protecting america. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox

with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free. visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. [ chirp ]

>> welcome back on this fourth of july. here is your news by the numbers fourth of july edition. first, 42.3 million, that's how many americans will be traveling today according to triple a. next $217 million. that's how much money will be spent on 14 different fireworks displays across the united states. finally 500 years old, that's this age of this map of the

united states. librarians found it in a math book in germany. they weren't the states at that time. it's the area but it's one of the first of five maps that used the name america before it became the united states of america. gretchen? >> thanks so much, clayton. i'm with major dan rooney and i'm with sarah white, a scholarship recipient from a great organization that you started, folds of honor. tell me what it is. >> first of all, happy fourth of july. >> thank you. you as well. >> we're out here on the plaza. it's about what this day stands for. it's family, it's friends. and it's great americans like sarah here and the folds of honor. we give scholarships to spouses and kids who have had somebody killed or disabled in iraq and afghanistan and we'll be close to 4,000 recipients here in the next couple of weeks and sarah is one of those. >> i want to get up to how you came up with the idea in a moment. congratulations, you just graduated from auburn, right? >> thank you. >> i did.

>> you lost your father back in 1995. both you and your brothers have been recipients of the folds of honor scholarships. how did it help you complete your education? >> it was huge. it served as a financial relief for my mom but i think more than that, it's just nice to have a group of people who don't even really know you come around you and say we won't forget the sacrifice that not only your dad made that your family made as well. and they've done that and, you know, it's very nice. >> congratulations to you again. and i know that in 2007 was it that you saw a 4-year-old waiting for the casket of his father and it changed your life forever as far as this organization. >> it did. i just had returned back from my second tour of duty in iraq as an f-16 pilot and ended up on commercial airline flight with actually twin brothers. one bringing the other one home that was killed in iraq and he had a 4-year-old son and there's a term i use in life. synchronici synchronicity, chance with a

purpose. i don't believe in chance. god called me on a mission in my life, to help one child and we'll be near 4,000 recipients in the next couple of weeks, and unfortunately, there's almost a million dependents that fall in that category of having someone killed or disabled. so the gap is huge. and -- >> you're serving to fill part of that gap. now, people are wondering why do we have a clydesdale horse out here? >> that's right. >> what the heck is budweiser's relationship with you? >> well, i think first, you do not have to be in the military to be a patriot. and there are great ways to serve and we are really, we're free 99% of this country courtesy of the 1% that step up and put the uniform on. budweiser has stepped in in an amazing way. i got a great can here. stars and stripes can. >> look at the label on that. >> they're donating a nickel for every case of budweiser sold in america back to folds of honor. it started in may and goes through the fourth of july holiday. we've got juchip the clydesdale

with us today. >> looking beautiful today. >> beautiful animal. we can all do our part and it's fourth of july weekend so crack a little patriotism in a can, budweiser is a wonderful way to support. >> i don't think you'll have to push many people to do that on the fourth of july. what do you hope to do in life? >> i actually just moved to dallas, texas. >> i used to live there, too. >> yes, and i'm now in medical sales. >> medical sales. >> yes, ma'am. >> what about your brother? >> he is getting a degree in business and i think he just finished his sophomore year. >> well, hats off to this wonderful organization that's giving people like sarah an opportunity to complete the education. what's the web site for people? >> absolutely. foldsofhonor.org and again, as we started this segment, just encourage everybody to take a couple of minutes over the fourth of july week that we're enjoying and remember what it's really about. it's about freedom and those who defend it and how blessed we are to live in the greatest country in the world and by all means, pick up a budweiser and step up as patriots and take care of great men and women like sarah

here. >> you're a great american for all that you do. happy fourth of july to the two of you. >> thank you. >> all right. let's head back inside. >> thanks so much, gretchen. >> we told you about former commerce secretary john bryson responsible for a series of bizarre hit-and-runs one evening and at first police thought he was drunk but the official reports are in. what really happened to him? it's another pizza to feed an army literally. we're making pizzas on the plaza. pizza for patriots are here. this morning. we're eating good today. [ male announcer ] summer is here.

and so too is the summer event. now get an incredible offer on the powerful, efficient c250 sport sedan with an agility control sport-tuned suspension. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. ♪ the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st. ♪ introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of sharable data and add up to 10 different devices,

including smartphones and tablets. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. now add a tablet for only $10 monthly access. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the

comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged.

>> good morning.

u.s. army old guard fife and drum corps this morning on the fox plaza. thank you, gentlemen. good morning. we're here with chief warrant officer frederick elwine. how are you? >> i am wonderful. happy independence day. >> happy independence day. thank you all for your service. tell us about the army old guard fife and drum corps. what it means to our country and where they played. >> it reminds americans of our very first army. the strength of the nation and we bring to life the music that was played for our soldiers during the revolutionary war. >> how big is the group? i know we've got a pretty good contingent here today. >> 69 enlisted members and one more in office. >> and you'll play for the president all the time. >> yes, it's an official escort to the president of the united states. we play for arrival ceremonies, for foreign heads of state at the white house. >> and you played at inaugurations and all kinds of affairs of state. >> all inaugurals since john f. kennedy. >> when somebody from outside of

the united states sees this group, what's the reaction? they say it's probably unique and incredible. >> very stirring and inspiring. >> and unfortunately probably play at very difficult times in our country's history, too. to honor our fallen members of the service. >> yes, sir. music is served to inspire soldiers from the very beginning. that's what we re-create with this unit, part of the old guard. >> thank you for being here with america today and thank you for being in america every day. start playing us out. >> gretchen, send it back to you. >> it's a privilege, thank you. >> thank you so much, peter. let's catch you up on some of your headlines for the fourth of july because on the eve of the fourth, a fireworks explosion rocked a home in new hampshire leaving at least nine people hurt. >> when i saw the cloud, i knew it couldn't be good so i came down and i just like that feeling in my stomach that i knew something couldn't be right. i was hoping someone didn't get hurt but a lot of people did. >> right now, we know three of the victims are children including an infant.

reports say two of the victims have severe burns. neighbors say the family sets off fireworks every fourth of july. former u.s. commerce secretary john bryson won't be charged in connection with the series of bizarre hit-and-runs that led to his resignation last month. although he tested positive for a small amount of ambien, authorities ruled that the accidents were caused by a seizure. the opponent of disgraced congressman charlie rangel refiling court papers to challenge the results of last week's primary. he wants the ballots secured and a monitor to look over a possible recount. he has not officially looked for a new election now but is keeping his options open. popular radio and television author tangled up in one of the biggest health care fraud cases of all times. they reveal the health company paid dr. drew $275,000 to promote the anti-depressant wellbutrin on his radio show in

1999 without being in his commercial. this week, they paid a record $3 billion settlement for promoting that drug as well as hiding safety information for another drug. if you think that's all, if you think it's shady, look at this. >> ♪ are you ready for this >> no, this isn't a scene from the movie "magic mike" in theaters right now. it's a glaxo launch party held in vegas two years ago to help promote the drug advair. reminiscent of the one thrown by the g.s.a. all right. time to get a weather check because you know, maria molina, people want to know their father on the fourth of july. >> that's right. good morning. good to see you. i'm hanging out here with chip. it's a little cloudy and drizzly. we've had to deal with those showers across new york city and across the rest of the 95 corridor including boston and philadelphia. good news is we're expecting

those rain showers to continue to push out to sea and we should be drying things out here in the next hour or so and you'll see some of that sunshine returning and temperatures heating up. we're in new york city, we're expecting to see a high temperature of about 92 degrees. head westward and we're talking triple digits for chicago, memphis, kansas city and minneapolis. temperatures well above average and factor in the humidity and of course, it feels even hotter. although we're expecting those showers to move out of the northeast later today, we could be seeing -- and seeing that sunshine returning by this afternoon and this evening, you could see another round of showers and storms fired up once those temperatures heat up. so of course, keep an eye on that and we're looking at a chance for showers and storms across the southeast and also the four corners. back inside. >> clayton? take it over to clayton. >> i thought you said it was going to stop raining. it's enough to keep our folks from pizzas for patriots for cooking up for our troops overseas. it's enough pizza to serve an army literally and it helps our troops celebrate the fourth of

july by sending 30,000 pies to 90,000 troops in afghanistan. we love having these guys on the show. not only do we eat well but it's for such a great cause. co-founder of pizza for patriots here to my right is ken evans and lieutenant colonel tony sloan who is a past participant. mike taylor from dhl that helps with the logistics of getting these pizzas overseas and joanne fontinini responsible for these meats and pies. nice to see you all this morning. this was your idea. you started this and you had this idea when you were 15 years old? >> yes, sir. >> tell me about it. >> i'd like to take this minute to thank this men and women. i was 15 years old and me my father were at my house eating dinner and the war was on tv. and i was thinking do they have food like this in iraq and afghanistan? and of course, they don't. i asked my dad if we could send some pizzas and we e-mailed general petraeus and it all

began five years later. >> you were a recipient of this, lieutenant colonel tony sloan. you got some of this pizza. what did it mean for you to be able to taste a little bit of home? >> it's a great morale boost and for the troops to know that people back home are thinking about them and thinking about them enough that they would do something extra like this to send the pizzas over and hundreds of thousands of people contribute to make this happen and it's a great feeling when you're over there to know people back home are thinking about you and care about you. >> talk about that feeling. these are your pizzas going overseas. these men and women will taste this stuff. >> it's so exciting. we're very humbled and honored to be able to do this for the military men and women who give their lives on the line every day for us. and we formed a pizza coalition so it's several companies that have put together the pizzas. we've had the crust, the sauce, the cheese and, of course, the sausages and the pepperoni that we supply for the pizzas. so here's a sampling of it. this is our italian sausage. and the sausage and the pepperoni. >> do you ever get some

california troops who don't know how to have good pizza, let's be honest in california and they taste a little bit of this east coast pizza and they say oh, my god, this is what i'm missing! >> we have -- we try to do pizzas for every region but our favorite region is obviously chicago style pizza. >> there you go. some of this great pizza and all of this wouldn't be possible without the help of dhl. mike taylor is here from dhl. logistically, how do you get all these pizzas over there so they can enjoy a little taste of home. >> instead of looking forward as you push the product, you have to look backwards. obviously the temperature is a major factor in the middle east. despite the hot weather we've had in the u.s., it's a lot hotter there so you look at it between the international specialists within the company. there are a lot of touch points. but to transport it over, it takes it the equivalent of 46,000 pounds of dry ice to do its first leg from the united states to our hub in the middle east and bahrain and then we

reice it again to go its journey again to the area of responsibility, in this case afghanistan to make that happen. >> and it gets a little bit more difficult in some of the really hot regions of that area. of course, with a loft gun fight and everything else that's happening in some of those regions of afghanistan near the pakistan border. we want to thank all of you this morning. how can people find out more information? >> they can go to pizzas4patriots.com and for $10 you can send a pizza to afghanistan. >> our "fox & friends" viewers do this every year and donate pizzas. give our troops, men and women a little taste of home. thanks, guys. thanks so much for what you do. thanks, guys. send it back inside to you, gretchen. bring you some pizza. >> bring me the vegetarian one. that looks delicious. >> i don't know if there's any vegetarian. >> i saw some broccoli there, clayton. >> i know, thank you. >> something with meatballs is fine, too. what if your mother-in-law asks to move in? i'm going to pick up my

mother-in-law and my father-in-law in a couple of hours. if you say you'd hate it, are you normal or nuts? dr. keith ablow here reading your e-mails. then would our nation's founders approve of the president's health care law? our next guest says no way! but it's not too late to reclaim what made this nation great. you got to hear this one. stick around. right back. great! tyler here will show you everything. check out our new mobile app. now you can use your phone to scan your car's vin or take a picture of your license. it's an easy way to start a quote. watch this -- flo, can i see your license? no. well, all right. thanks. okay, here we go. whoa! no one said "cheese." progressive mobile -- insurance has never been easier. get a free quote today.

thank you for calling your ged pep talk center.

all right. now, are you ready for your ged pep talk? being nervous is ok. it just shows that you're serious about getting your diploma. a lot of things are scary. heck, i'm scared of clowns. no quiero oír, "danny, no lo puedo hacer." dmc, liking your pep talk style. just keeping it real, debs. just keeping it real. announcer: whatever motivation you need, we've got a pep talk for you. get your ged pep talk and find free classes at yourged.org. >> welcome back. some quick headlines for you. there is word that apple is planning to laufrnch a smaller d cheaper ipad later in the year hearing the screen will be 7 to 8 inches diagonally and could cost less than $300. rumors are getting a lot hotter. who said talk is cheap? gretchen wants a lighter ipad. >> i do! >> former president bill clinton pocketing a whopping $13.4 million for 54 speeches

last year. the most he's cashed in on since leaving the white house. post politics is profitable. gretchen, peter? >> thanks, clayton. in the landmark decision to uphold obamacare, the president's vision for the country was evident. >> should be pretty clear by now that i didn't do this because it was good politics. i did it because i believed it was good for the country. i did it because i believed it was good for the american people. >> but our next guest -- excuse me, gretchen. >> our next guest says this kind of legislation completely goes against what our founding fathers actually intended. and we need to rediscover who we are as a nation in order to get back on track. in 1978 -- dr. ben carson was the first surgeon to successfully separate siamese twins conjoined at the head and a neurosurgeon at johns hopkins hospital, the recipient of the presidential medal of freedom as well and the author of the book "america the beautiful, rediscovering what made this nation great." and we're honored to have him as our guest today. good morning to you, dr. carson. >> good morning and happy fourth.

>> when you hear the president say that obamacare, that he did it because he believed it was good for the country and he did it because he believed it was good for the american people, how do you respond? >> well, i would respond by saying i wonder if they know a whole lot about this nation, about the reasons that this nation was founded. and i wonder if they've read the thoughts of the founders of this nation. this was supposed to be a nation that was for, of and by the people. it was supposed to be different. it was going to be a great experiment, could you have a nation in which people were responsible for themselves and for their communities and their families and the government served in a limited capacity or would it move towards a state where the government became bigger and bigger and bigger and took over everything? this is what they feared. and i suspect they'd turn over in their graves if they could see what was going on right now. and unfortunately, you know, we've allowed this culture of division to occur. there are people who thrive on dividing and conquering. it's supposed to be a united

states of america and, you know, the bible says without a vision, the people perish. there's no vision anymore. it's just my group or your group. and that's what good leadership does. it creates a vision. it doesn't create division. >> you decided to be a healer and a great healer in your life. a great surgeon and doctor. and then you talk about division and vision, what is the vision for health care? what do we owe our people, if anything, in terms of providing them the ability to be treated for their health conditions? >> you know, it's a complex topic and in the book "america the beautiful" there's a whole chapter called health care, the right. but the fact of the matter is, you know, we do put enough money into health care. we put about twice as much per capita into health care as the next closest nation it's not a matter of us not caring. it's a matter of enormous

inefficiency. this is where we need to direct our attention. throwing money at an inefficient system doesn't make any sense. it costs a different amount of amount to get an appendectomy in many different cities, different ways of billing and collection that justifies the mountains of paper and army of people to deal with. there's so many things i talk about in the chapter, logical stuff. why don't we get people to deal with it rather than politician? >> you can say the same thing as the system, we spend more per capita and we're not doing so well. we're on the verge of being called a can do nation rather than a nation of what can you do for me? >> what i mean by that is loss of personal responsibility. there's many people now that feel that someone else is responsible for taking care of them. and there are a group of politicians who foster that kind

of ideal because if you can get a large enough number of people feeling that way, you have a built-in voting bloc forever. keep on promising this and promising them that. totally opposite to the founding of this nation and represent that this nation changed the course of the world. for thousands of years, people did the same thing for some way. within 200 years of the founding of this nation, people were walking on the moon. we need to go back and examine those principles that allowed us to accelerate to that degree. we are different. anybody who says they're not, they don't know what they're talking about. they need to go back and read our history and understand it and be proud of it. >> dr. ben carson, neurosurgeon, author, recipient of the presidential medal of freedom. check out his book "america the beautiful, rediscovering what made this nation great." thanks so much for your time. >> thanks, guys. >> good morning. >> thank you. >> well, is this normal or is it nuts? your dog refuses to wear a leash so you carry him around in a shopping cart. i've seen that a lot in new york

city. dr. keith ablow with the diagnosis in a stroller, too. >> diagnosing the dog or the person? let's see, both maybe. but first on this day in 1802, the u.s. military academy opened at west point, new york. historic day. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. begins with back pain and a choice.

take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. when you throw away money on wasted electricity... you're throwing away everything you could have bought with it. saving energy saves you money. learn more at energysavers.gov.

>> am i normal or am i nuts? don't answer that. floor director joel thinks as a

phillies fan i'm nuts but it's a question everyone asks once and a while and it's a question that we ask dr. keith ablow every week on the show. joining us now to answer the e-mails you've sent us is fox news contributor and analyst dr. keith ablow. happy fourth. >> thanks. happy fourth to you. >> hears an e-mail. he writes i'm 59 years old. my wife died two years ago. i'm not attracted to women in my age group, they make me think of my mom instead of a potential mate. is that normal or nuts? >> a lot of men are attracted to younger women. some are attracted to women of the same age. normal. women, too, are sometimes more attracted to younger men. but what i would say is don't feel guilty about it. it is who you are. just get to the gym. get some duds and get out there. now, about this thing where he says when i look at women, i think of my mother, that's like 20 hours on my couch.

so that one i'm not going near it. >> we won't touch that one today. maybe can get some help the other ways. e-mail number two. my mother-in-law wants to move in for six months of the year. i don't want this. but she and my husband say i'm being selfish. i think her request is selfish and intrusive and will cause marriage problems. am i nuts? >> no. you're not nuts. they're crazy, though! the bottom line is you are not nuts. it's very strange, right, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. this is a guy who needs to decide is he married to his mother, i think the first question bears some, you know, echo here. is he married to his mother, is he married to this woman? it's not a boundary -- it's not cool boundary wise for this mother to say hey, you're selfish. i'm coming. that's a prescription for disaster! >> all right. we have to do this one quickly at the end here, doc. my dog refuses to wear a leash so i have to take him out in a little shopping cart everywhere

i go. he has to be right beside me. who is nuts? me or him or are we both nuts? >> i love that you love your dog. i love that your dog loves you. you love that he won't wear a leash and i love that you don't make him. normal, normal, normal. >> normal? all right. two normals, one nuts. always. >> but i'm nuts for dogs! so there you have it. >> dr. keith ablow handles them all for us. you can find him on twitter. doc, thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> thanks. >> coming up on the show, he wants to ban your supersized soda but new york city's mayor michael bloomberg doesn't are a problem with salty language. ♪ technology that connects us to everhing the world has to offer and vice versa. ♪ technology that makes lightweight stronger, safer,

and faster than ever before. ♪ technology that makes electric electrifying and efficiency exhilarating. ♪ technology that doesn't just drive us, but drives progress. ♪ and driving progress is what we do every day. ♪ ♪ as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? ...but you still have to go to the gym. as the hotel experts, finding you the perfect place is all we do. this summer, save up to 30%, plus get up to $100 on us.

welcome to hotels.com. the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon.

>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. today is wednesday, july 4. happy fourth of july, everyone. i'm gretchen carlson and happy birthday, america. this independence day, our dependence on government is at an all-time high. we're an entitlement nation and some states getting rewarded for

making sure we stay that way. you won't believe this story coming up. >> peter: chief justice john roberts upholding obamacare. why are we hearing reports now that they also wrote most of the defense? >> clayton: sorry, folks. apparently for that coal slaw, no fourth of july fireworks for one american town. they might be upset because the birds might get teary eyed and fly out of their nests. we're not kidding. the birds will be upset about fireworks. "fox & friends" begins right now ♪ america, america

♪ may we tell you how we feel. ♪ you have given us your freedom. ♪ we love you so ♪ ♪ love, love, love ♪ love, love, love ♪ ♪ we love you ♪ ♪ ♪ america, america ♪ ♪ may we tell you how we feel. ♪ you have given us your riches ♪ ♪ we love you so >> gretchen: a wonderful tribute

by the girl scouts. they're a troop in new york city. they performed on this show before. how fitting for the fourth of july to say we love america. we'll hear more from them coming up on the show. >> clayton: we've got more grilling coming up later on the show. your perfect barbecue set up outside. so many people screw up their steaks on the fourth of july or any time. >> gretchen: come on, be a little more optimistic. they're going to grill up more food 'cause they're going to learn from you. >> peter: you're grinding meat. doing all kinds of things with meat. it's awful. >> clayton: that's right. pat is here, we're going to learn more about that coming up. >> gretchen: welcome to clayton from the weekend "fox & friends" and peter johnson, jr. they're planning for the show to go on in the nation's capitol. crews putting the final touches on the fireworks despite more threats from mother nature. this as the region continues to deal with the aftermath of the storms that left millions without power for days. molly henneberg live with more. hi, molly.

>> hi. as you were saying, just over a million people are still without power after that incredible storm hit this area last friday night. there was more bad weather last night. all in all, there are toppled trees and downed power lines. some maryland communities canceled fourth of july festivities, including fireworks because of the storm damage. but the big washington, d.c. fireworks are a go for tonight on the national mall. there was a bit of a weather snag, though. last night during the dress rehearsal for the capitol 4th show on the west lawn of the capitol, the public is invite to do watch that dress rehearsal. as that storm last night rolled through the area, police had to evacuate everyone because of lightning. the rehearsal was able to continue later on and the show will go on tonight weather permitting. president obama will wake up this morning at camp david. the presidential retreat in maryland, and then head back to washington. he'll speak at the white house at a naturalization ceremony for active duty members of the

military. then later today, he will host military heros and their families on the south lawn of the white house for a fourth of july barbecue. a concert by country star brad paisley, and view of the dc fireworks. his republican opponent, governor mitt romney, is in new hampshire with his family, all 30 of them, for their annual family vacation. here you see governor romney and mrs. romney on a jet scheme he will take part in a local fourth of july parade today. mainly keeping a low profile this week. a brief respite before the summer push to the august gop convention. romney does have some campaign aides with him on this vacation. likely discussing campaign strategy, as well as the search for vice presidential running mate. after the holiday, president obama heads to ohio and pennsylvania to battle ground states for a two-day bus tour. governor romney will remain in new hampshire for the rest of the week and then on sunday, he goes to new york for some fundraising. back to you guys in new york.

>> gretchen: molly henneberg, thanks so much. the rest of your headlines for fourth of july. it's probably not what the founding father high school in mind. occupy protesters celebrating fourth of july by gathering in the birth place of our country. they're starting to fill independence mall in philly. they're trying to convince others about their views on the economy and the war. police have extra officers already on call for crowd control today. talk about doing double duty a. new report claims chief justice john roberts also wrote most of the dissenting opinion for the obamacare ruling. now according to the report, roberts wrote about three quarters of what became the dissent, agreeing with the conservatives before switching sides and writing the opinion to save president obama's controversial insurance man itd. the four justices then allegedly wrote last part of the dissent together. physicists hailing a major scientific breakthrough.

scientist peter higgs, crying in the audience as the head of the world's biggest atom smasher confirms there is evidence for so-called god particle does exist. burr they stopped -- they stopped shy of claiming victory. mass combines its gravity to give an object weight. amazing. michael bloomberg speaking very frankly at the weigh in for today's annual nathan's hot dog eating contest. apparently his speech writer high school too many puns and you get tired of them. >> if one of their dogged pursuers will finally catch up, cut the mustard, and be pronounced wiener. no question, it's going to be a dog fight. just think of how many we got into one sentence. that was really impresssive. who wrote this (bleep)?

[ laughter ] >> gretchen: the eating begins at 11:30 a.m. eastern time. you know, some people are wondering how can the mayor be out there promoting this hot dog eating contest where people stuff like 100 dogs down their throat, but he doesn't allow sugary sodas. >> peter: interesting. >> clayton: governor christie of new jersey saying not in my state. you can keep that up there. he came out saying no big soda ban in my state of new jersey, whatever mayor bloomberg is doing up there, he can keep it. >> peter: it needs to be decided by judge felix frankfurter. >> gretchen: you're going to keep the puns going, huh? >> clayton: let's talk about independence day this morning. viewers saying don't say happy 4th. talk about our independence. it's independence day. that's what our government is because we broke tree from british rule and declared our independence day on this day in philadelphia, walked out. we're all about being

independent in this country. but it's interesting now, a new report out looking at the way in which we are dependent on government. it could be at an all-time high this morning. sort of a sad statistic. >> gretchen: what you're saying is independence is threatened by increased government dependence. do you find that ironic. the government dependsy jumped. goes o 70% of the federal government budget goes to individual assistance programs. the numbers are one in five americans depend on some sort of federal assistance. >> clayton: a lot of those numbers, social security, medicare and medicaid costs. most assistance goes toward housing. health examine welfare and retirement costs and social security numbers. so all of those things, that sort of social safety net that we hear so much about. >> peter: this is interesting, 25 years, the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers are going to retire and the really incredible number,

that 49 1/2%, the population does not pay any federal income tax at all. so how are you going to finance those benefits that are now to be valued about $33,000? how do you pay for that? >> clayton: per person p $3,000. that's amazing. >> gretchen: one particular county in north carolina is being heralded for actually figuring out a way to get more people on the government dole. some people find this incredulous, but here is the story. north carolina social services, a department there, received a gold award for increasing food stamp participation by 10% in the last year. so they were actually given an award for letting people know who weren't aware up until that point that they actually qualified for food stamps. >> clayton: senator sessions is upset because he thinks in that area action they have a thing called mountain pride, which is we're going to do it ourselves. we have enough pride that we're not going to ask others to help

us. we need seeds for our garden, we're not going to get it. they got the award because they said they were able to overcome mountain pride. sessions says, look, that's what they want. >> gretchen: in other words, convince them to go on the government dole. >> clayton: right. and leave your mountain pride behind. he says that's a problem. >> peter: the only concern i have that, in fact, the government dole. the government dole has a bad connotation. we spend billions sending food around the world. i think it's important we feed our own americans if they're not being fed. if there is waste or fraud or abuse, obviously, we shouldn't. but if there are folks who are starving and there are babies not getting milk they need, then they need food stamps. >> gretchen: i don't think that's are the exact people they were going after here. we've had people coming in saying they could have qualified -- one person wrote, i'm a teacher and i could have qualified for food stamp, but i chose not to. you got to look at the details about what makes you qualified for these benefits.

>> peter: this is the same thing that all our families faced. i heard about my grandmother during the depression. there was no food. do they take from the neighbor? how do they get the assistance that they need to feed a family of nine to be able to eat and work and think and do all the things? >> clayton: does the community come together? >> peter: it's a difficult issue. >> clayton: diane writes, shame on the government. shame on those who find it a positive to change the culture of any community from one of independence to dependence, referring to that mountain pride. >> gretchen: from judy, the idea of food stamps stimulate the economy is dishonest propaganda. the money is taken from working people who do stimulate the economy and hand to those who take from the economy. the program is filled with massive fraud. >> clayton: a tweet says, we get food stamps because my husband is disabled. but we've seen our amount steadily go down to cover all these new recipients. when the pot gets bigger, those who may be really need it and depend on it like debbie, it

gets watered down. >> gretchen: let's tell you what's coming up on the rest of the show. protesters getting ready to occupy the nation's birth place. they're about to run into unexpected resistance. the tea party coming out with a major response. >> peter: we promise you're not going to see this anywhere else today. a real american hero, 91-year-old world war ii veteran showing us just how tough he really is, how strong americans are. he pulls a car with nothing but his teeth. look at that. >> clayton: my dad texted me and said, maybe i should try this profession. dad, keep your teeth in ♪

♪ proud to and on our own ♪ proud to be homegrown ♪ a familiar face and a name you know ♪ ♪ can you hear it? ♪ fueling the american spirit ♪ no matter when, no matter where ♪ ♪ marathon will take you there ♪ fueling the american spirit

i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, whilen enbrel, you experice persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you.

[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. >> gretchen: 15 minutes after the top of the hour. the occupy movement is back and invading the city of brotherly love for their national gathering. they're not going to be the only ones there. joining me is terry adams, the president of the independence hall tea party association, who is also planning an event in philly today to celebrate american exceptionalism. good morning to you, terry. >> good morning. thanks for having me. i just wanted to say that our tea party is not a response to occupy. this is our fourth annual tea party at independence mall.

actually i suspect their event may be a response to our event. >> gretchen: okay. thank you for setting the record straight. your theme is american exceptionalism. what are you going to be talking about today? >> basically we're going to be talking about the idea that america, as it was conceived by our founders, and as it was built upon the foundation of liberty, is the one country in all of history that permits the individuals, as well as our country collectively, to achieve because we live in freedom. we are able to develop our talents and our abilities and also the idea that we want to -- we're leaders in the world and we want to lead other countries to freedom and liberty. >> gretchen: so you expect about 2,000 people to show up on your side of the event. how is the occupy message, in your mind, the antithesis of

what you're saying? >> the occupy movement was started basically by anarchists, socialistses marxists, and their idea of lack of government or complete federal deposit control is just an enasthma to what the forefathers conceived. with no government there is no rules and regulation. and then if you have a tyrannical government, people are unable to formulate their own destinies. >> gretchen: i know you have some concern or at least you're annoyed by the fact that you believe what you deem to be the liberal media and how they're going to cover what happens today. in what way? >> well, they've been trying to make the events, 'cause they'll be present on the mall, as pitting occupy against the tea party and that's really not what

our event is all about. it's about celebrating the birth of our country and we don't care who is on the mall. >> gretchen: all right. well put, terry adams, who is the president of the independence hall tea party association. she's going to be out there in philadelphia today. thanks so much for your time. >> thank you so much for having me. >> gretchen: happy 4th. coming up next, the amazing story of how one person learned the truth about the fourth of july. and sorry, folks, no fourth of july fireworks for one american town. they might upset these birds. what happens when it thunderstorms? the girl scouts are performing for america's birthday. we're glad to have them back waving the american flag. stick around. ♪ the land i love ♪ the home of the free and the brave ♪ ♪ every heart beats true for the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ when there is never a boast or brag ♪

♪ should all acquaintance be forgot keep your eye on the grand old flag ♪ ♪ ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional price. but hurry, this offer ends july 31st. ♪

wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

>> clayton: welcome back. quick headlines for you. a former f.b.i. employee claiming that she saw angels guarding the wreckage on september 11. there she is, one of the first responders in shanksville, pennsylvania, that's the site where united flight 93 crashd into a field. a small village of depot bay, oregon, forced to cancel its fireworks celebration because it could disrupt nesting sea birds. the directive coming from the u.s. fish and wildlife service. folks in depot bay are not too happy about it. they say they're not only

missing out on an important holiday tradition, but some much needed tourism money. people canceling their hotel reservations. peter? >> peter: thanks. for many of us, the fourth of july means barbecue, hot dogs and fireworks. let me tell but a fourth of july when i learned about how much more it really means. on a warm evening about 30 years ago, we watched fireworks from the balcony of my father's office on the east river. as the sounds of the explosions bounced off the sky scrapers, it was like thunder. but a broad, strong looking man stepped inside the office off the terrace and he stood in the corner. his face was almost paralyzed with anxiety. i summoned my father and we went to him. the man quietly explained that the sound of rockets being shot into the air followed by the flash of lights and color and deafening noise returned him to the fields of vietnam where he

stood with the united states army ranger. my father put his hand on his shoulder and agreed that the fireworks reminded him, too, of the mortar fire he experienced and the lives he saw lost as a marine at egee ma. within a few minutes, his wife and party goers returned inside, knowing someone was not feeling well and they gathered in quiet support around us. the army veteran, the ranger, seemed embarrassed and he apologized. he said, i'm sorry to break up the party. my mother responded with tears in her eyes, looking at the veterans of two wars and she said, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to have this july 4th party. and then this strong, broad, wonderful ranger led us all back to the fireworks overlook the east river. i learned a great lesson that night in downtown manhattan, as much as we love a parade or a

barbecue, or even a fireworks display or great political speech, july 4th is the emotional sum of all of our struggles, our strife, and yes, our exceptionalism as a people. like no other people in the world, we celebrate our right to speak, to assemble, to worship, to think freely and without fear or favor. we do it with pride, understanding the price that so many have paid for that privilege. so tonight as our children marvel at the rockets' red glare and i do, too, let's make sure we surround the modest young men or women, our quiet wound warriors of iraq and afghanistan, who limp into the shadows sometimes and let them know how grateful we are for their sacrifice and courage. when we see a young woman caring for her children and grieving the husband she lost, let's take them all by the hand and announce, as my mother did, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be having this party. in this way, all of us, each of

us, can be reborn this and each and every fourth of july. and that's a prescription for america. happy 4th and to you and clayton and gretchen. >> clayton: well done. happy fourth of july to everyone on this independence day. coming up here on the show, president obama launching an all-out assaults on mitt romney's business record. saturating the air waves with ads like this in key swing states. is anyone buying what he's selling? frank luntz get to the bottom of these new ads. then, this law maker accidentally legalized fracking because she pressed the wrong voting button. she was the deciding vote on the bill. oops. that's a problem. so can she take back her vote? you've got to hear this. we're firing up the grill for the fourth of july with a little help from the meat men with the food network. they'll share the secret ingredients you won't want to forget after this.

almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thinwork? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% casback on every purche, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the ark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

he >> gretchen: time for your shot of the morning. i love this shot of the morning! a group of baby pandas having blast on some playground equipment at a research base in china. it's dedicated to protecting and breeding giant pandas to increase the population. the species is in danger. look at they roll down on their bellies. >> clayton: they are adorable. but they will tear your arm off. >> gretchen: okay. you had to bring that up. thanks for ruining my vision. >> clayton: public be service announcement. >> gretchen: look at that one!

>> peter: again, again. wow. >> clayton: forget they are bear s. >> gretchen: very, very, cute. >> peter: one of them is called ted. >> gretchen: yes. i've got see that movie. did you see it? >> peter: i did. it's an interesting movie. inn a good way? >> it's funny in parts. >> gretchen: i heard it's a little nasty. >> peter: the bear is a drug addict. that's the problem with the move yeah. >> gretchen: oh. >> peter: so you should not bring your children. >> gretchen: check out movementy "brave". a elements scary, but great message. >> clayton: time for your headlines. a fireworks explosion sending a home's deck up in flames. look at this. >> when i saw the cloud, i knew it wouldn't be good. i came down and the feeling in my stomach, i knew something couldn't be right. i was hoping someone didn't get hurt. >> clayton: the explosion leaving nine people hurt. right now we know three victims are children. including an infant. reports say two of the victims have severe burns on their bodies. neighbors say the family sets off fireworks every fourth of

july. peter? >> peter: after months of heated debate within the obama administration, secretary of state hillary clinton apologizing to pakistan for a nato air strike last year. the strike leaving 24 pakinstani soldiers dead. pakistan now reopening supply routes to afghanistan, which were closed after the air strike. the closures cost the u.s. about $100 million extra a month. republicans, including mitt romney, though, claim president obama says sorry too easily. >> gretchen: call it a major fracking flub. north carolina democratic state representative becky carney, against fracking, vote to go override a fracking veto. she claims she accidentally hit the green yes button instead of the red no button. she couldn't change it because it was the deciding vote. wow. supporters say it could help increase national gas production. critics claim it hurts the environment. >> peter: the vice president says republicans are waging an

all-out war on teachers. here he is in washington, d.c. >> there is a pretty uniform view held by mr. romney and the republicans and the united states congress today. they criticize you and they blame you. they make you the fall guy. >> peter: a spokesman for mitt romney hit back hard, saying biden, quote, doubled down on the same policies that have failed to fix our economy and help the middle class instead of putting students first, vice president biden and this administration have stood with union bosses, he said. >> gretchen: check out this amazing story. 91-year-old world war ii veteran so tough, he can pull a car with just his teeth. yep. mike greenstein performed the incredible feat right here on "fox & friends." >> this is remarkable. i have trouble lifting a stack of towel when is my wife asks me to take laundry upstairs.

we should be clear, the person inside the car is not doing anything, he has the car so it keeps going straight. mike greenstein, pulling a car down the street in the middle of manhattan. congratulations, mike! >> gretchen: wow. the 91-year-old says he keeps his teeth strong, get this, by brushing them with kosher salt. he learned the trick from his dad, who was one of the strongest men in america. that was fantastic. when first he clenched down his teeth and he said, excuse me, could you take your foot off the brake. >> peter: he drove himself here at 4:00 o'clock in the morning from queens, new york. he was getting ready this morning and i said, i'm so happy to meet you. world war ii veteran. tough guy. i break a tooth eat ago hard kaiser roll. this guy is pulling this 5,000-pound car. incredible. >> gretchen: he comes by it

honestly 'cause his dad was really strong. let's go out to maria molina 'cause so many people want to know the weather for the fourth of july. >> good morning. good to see you. good morning, everyone. we've had some showers across parts of the northeast, including us in new york city, also the city of boston and philadelphia. so the i-95 corridor getting drenched early. we have good news. that rain is moving out. we'll see the sunshine moving on in and temperatures really warming up. perfect conditions as we head outdoors for barbecues or picnics you may have planned. we have never shot for more showers and storms to impact parts of the northeast as we get some daytime heating and humidity in place. expect to see another round possible in late this afternoon and evening. 102 in kansas city and chicago expecting a high at 101 degrees. a lot of sunshine. it is going to feel even hotter when you factor in the humidity. keep that in mind. as we head southward flax that will be seeing the showers and storms throughout the afternoon

hours. clayton? >> clayton: thanks so much. if you want good cooking, you need to look no further than pat, one of th meat men from food network's meat men show. big hit show. you're going to show us, we showed you how it make a great burger. now you'll show us how it make a skirt steak sandwich. you love this cut of meat. why is this such a family recipe for you? >> in my family recipe, this has been our favorite cut. this is what my grandfather, my father, and i all always barbecued? >> clayton: why? >> this is the one cut of beef that blindfolded, you could tell the flavor profile different from any other steak. >> clayton: so cutting it and putting it on the grill is really important. so we've got a close-up that chris is shooting. that's untouched. >> when you ask your butcher for this cut, you want an outside skirt steak. not the inside skirt. difference in flavor. >> clayton: outside skirt steak. we want to reiterate, buy american beef. because usda checking it and making sure it's good. >> we have the safest beef

supply in the world. >> clayton: you cut it in a special way. you're scoring it. >> skirt steak is not as tender as a new york strip or filet. what we want to do is come in here and score the meat, not cutting all the way through, but making these hash marks through. so you're cutting through the fiber muscle. so when we take that to the grill, you can see how that grills up. it actually start to segregate. this way when you're eating the sandwich -- you ever eat a steak sandwich and you pull a bread away and the steak comes back and slaps you in the face? that's what we're trying to avoid. we want that flavor from the steak. what i do for the sandwiches, i saute' my onions examine mushrooms. i put my cheese right on top right there. so i don't have to steam my meat by melting cheese. >> clayton: you've got also your buns here on the grill. you're making those up toasted. >> anywhere in america, maybe

called a hoagie roll. it's hero bread. we take that hero bread, steak on our mushrooms and onion and that's our finished product. >> clayton: over here is our finished product now with a little american flag piped into the top of this baby. come over here action chris. i know you can smell it. all of these tips are great. you add some salt at the very beginning of the process. >> right. put salt in the beginning for a nice char. never pepper because the pepper can get bitter on the barbecue on high heat. put the pepper on after it's cooked. >> clayton: you got a great app. if you need grilling tips, here is the ipad app. check it out. pat la frayda. big app for meat. download it for your ipad. thanks so much. happy fourth of july. >> you, too. >> clayton: we'll send it back to you. gretchen wanted some vegetarian stuff. i'll bring awe steak sandwich. will that pass? >> gretchen: it's not because i am a vegetarian. i just wanted to see vegetables

with my side. it looks fantastic. >> peter: i'd like a little more well done. that's fantastic, though. that's a fantastic looking steak romanian steak, hanger steak, that's all good stuff. >> gretchen: i'll eat any steak. president obama launching an all-out assault on mitt romney's business record with ads like this one. will they work? fred luntz gets to the bottom of it with his dial next. >> peter: this is really a national disgrace. texas town banning american flags at soldiers' graves? there is an update to this story. >> gretchen: first, patriots doing what they can to give back to the families of our military, filling care packages for our wounded warriors still overcease. if you want to help, go to wound warrior project.org ♪

why not make lunch more than just lunch?

with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. mornings are a special time for the two of you...) and now you can make them even more special...

with new fancy feast mornings. mornings are delicious protein rich entrées... with garden veggies and egg. each one perfectly designed... to start her day with a little love. new fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food. the best ingredient is love.

>> gretchen: quick headlines. texas town now reconsidering a controversial ordinance it approved banning flags at veterans' graves. a public meeting will be held next week in response to the thousands of calls city hall received from those who were outraged in mineral well, texas. librarians in germany discover this rare 16th century map of the united states. they found it in a map book. the 500-year-old piece of paper, one of the first five maps that used the name, america. peter? >> peter: thank you. president obama has been rolling

out attack ad after attack ad, going after mitt romney's bain capital record. are the ads really swaying the voters? here to tell us, pollster and fox news pollster, frank luntz who is hosting a special tonight right here on the fox news channel. he joins us live from los angeles. good morning on the 4th early in l.a frank, tell us, talk about the first ad called the stage. >> yes. this is the most effective of them all. very emotional, very personal. these ads are running morning, noon and night in ohio. this is one of the reasons why mitt romney who had been gaining on barak obama in ohio, seems to have stalled at this early point. let's look at the ad. >> out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage, gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in

the warehouse, a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired. i looked both ways. i looked at the crowd and we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over $100 million by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin. and it just made me sick. >> priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> peter: effective? how can he combat it? >> of all of the ads we've tested against mitt romney, that one is the most effective because it's an individual telling a story. you notice that the republicans responding more favorably to it at the beginning because they

thought it was a pro-romney ad. by the time it was done, both sides said what a horrible situation. it's one of these personalized attacks that seems to stick and it's the obama efforts strongest ad to date. >> peter: there is another one called outsourcing pioneer. tell bus that and we'll take a look. >> this one didn't do quite as well, but it's also an innovative approach. let's take a look. >> i know how business works. i know why jobs come and why they go. i know how jobs are created and how jobs are lost. i understand how jobs come and how jobs go.

i know why jobs come and why they go. >> peter: what do you and the dial show on that? >> it's not nearly as effective. the reason why is that you knew it was a negative ad, you knew it was an attack at the beginning. even though they repeated what he said, viewers thought that it was basically a cheap shot, that it wasn't telling the whole story. the first ad works because it's a human's reaction to something that happened based on mitt romney's company. the second one doesn't work because they think it's only half the story. the fact is that the stimulus of the obama administration actually sent a lot more money and jobs overseas than that ad shows. >> peter: how are the romney forces responding to these attack ads? are they at all? >> they are. they've got one particularly

effective ad which talks about all the jobs that went to europe and asia, that talked about all the stimulus money 'cause the american people don't want to see those taxpayer dollars spent to create jobs in other countries. in fact, tonight at 9:00 p.m. on this network, we've got mr. accountability from congress, darrell issa, who talks about the lack of accountability in washington, holding this administration accountable, and congressman allen west tells an incredible story. it's really moving about what democracy and the free market means. >> peter: in terms of accountability, let's look at the final romney ad responding to the president ad. >> president obama's ads against mitt romney are not true. the "washington post" says on just about every level this ad is misleading, unfair and untrue. but that's barak obama. he also attacked hillary clinton with vicious lies. >> he continues to spend millions of dollars, perpetuating falsehoods.

>> mitt romney has a plan to get america work. barak obama, worst job record since the depression. >> so shame on you, barak obama! >> peter: frank, could you ever, could you ever have manualed the republicans using hillary clinton to attack barak obama? that was one of those things -- i must have died and gone to heaven. it is only a moderately effective ad 'cause they know the two of them are work together. but it's a very innovative approach and viewers watched it examine were impacted from it. >> peter: frank luntz, thank you. happy fourth of july. great to see you. >> thank you. and watch tonight at 9:00 o'clock. >> peter: i'll be watching and america will. good to see you. next, we'll check in with the troops on the ground. our all important troops on the ground in afghanistan to see how they're celebrating our independence day. first, let's check in with martha. good morning. >> good morning, peter. >> peter: what's on top at the of the hour? >> thank you. happy 4th to you. good morning, everybody. so hillary clinton and the

pakistan apology. why there is now a new wrinkle in this story. we'll tell you about that. examine the battle for florida, why it could once again decide the election. ed rawlins tells us what they thinks mitt romney needs to do now. we'll see you at the top of theg hour. ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. are choosing advil®. here's one story. i'm keith baraka and i'm a fire fighter. it's an honor to be a fire fighter. my job involves life or death situations

and it's very physically demanding. if i'm sore, i have a headache, i'm not at my best. advil® is my go to. it's my number one pain reliever. advil® just works for me. [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil®. and if pain keeps you up, sleep better with advil pm®.

>> clayton: welcome back. our military, they're the reason we can celebrate our freedoms. do they get to celebrate at all? we spoke to some in kandahar, afghanistan, earlier on our show. >> start off with a 5 k run and balmy 90 degrees. later on today, we'll have a barbecue. it will be a good time. we'll have food, a little ceremony to promote some folks. it will be a good time.

>> gearing up for a water balloon fight. trying to take the championship this year. i don't know. i have got to find the right partner. i'm going to look around for some potential champions over there. >> clayton: a water balloon fight. that's something fun. learned arizona senator john mccain is in afghanistan. the republican senator tweeting this photo a few minutes ago and says it's always great to spend independence day with our nation's bravest soldiers. happy independence day to all of the brave men and women across our country and around the world. and outside to gretchen this morning. ♪ o say can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched

♪ were so gallantly streaming ♪ and the rockets red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof to the night ♪ that our flag was still there there ♪ ♪ o, say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> gretchen: hi, katherine. great to see you again. katherine, former girl scout herself, who now leads this

chorus. correct? >> yes. >> gretchen: are they working on a particular panel right now? >> we don't worken badges as a group. we are performance group, so the next ehave not that we have coming up is we're singing for a mets game on saturday. >> gretchen: fantastic. if they were giving a badge, it would be one for patriotism today. congratulations, girls. right back after this. takes me. this is so off course. i .

>> gretchen: we're back outside with the girl scouts who will perform another number for us in the after the show show. thanks for being here today. >> clayton: happy independence day, everyone. enjoy this day. >> peter: god bless america. >> gretchen: here is to america. see you tomorrow. overseas this morning. a u.s. apology ended a bitter seven-month standoff with pakistan. the company reopening a critical border route that

is up price nato forces in afghanistan. islamabad blocked the supply route after a nato airstrike killed 24 pakistani soldiers. good morning once again. i'm martha maccallum. we're here in "america's newsroom". gregg: happy independence day. i'm gregg jarrett in for bill. an apology critics are calling too easy but the agreement could save the united states $100 million every month. secretary of state hillary clinton having a telephone conversation with pakistan's prime minister discussing the death that led both countries into that bitter debate. clinton saying quote, we are sorry for the losses suffered by the pakistani military. we are committed to working closely with pakistan and afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again. martha: there was so many discussion whether or not this apology should happen and now it has and the agreement is drawing an angry response from the pakistani taliban. they are now threatening to attack nato supply trucks now that th